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Airborne Express

Founded 1946
Defunct 2003
Headquarters Seattle, Washington

Airborne Express 767
Airborne Express (IATA: GB, ICAO: ABX, Call sign: Abex) was an express delivery company and cargo airline. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, its hub was at Wilmington, Ohio.

Airborne was founded as the Airborne Flower Traffic Association of California in 1946 to fly flowers from Hawaii to the US Mainland.

Airborne Express developed special narrow containers which allowed the use of passenger jet aircraft without needing a large cargo door modification.

It was acquired by DHL in 2003. Prior to the acquisition, it was the third largest private express delivery company in the United States.

History
Growth during Airborne's first 22 years was slow. Progress came slowly and competition was stiff. But in 1968, the airline started going through some changes. To begin with, Airborne of California merged with Pacific Air Freight of Seattle. The airline moved its headquarters there and changed its name to Airborne Freight Corporation.

1980 - The airline changed its name to Airborne Express. After buying Midwest Air Charter, Airborne Express made history by buying the Clinton County Air Force Base in Wilmington and became the first airline in history to own and operate an airport. A number of NAMC YS-11 twin-engined turboprop freight conversions were purchased.
1988 - Airborne started offering same day delivery after buying Sky Courier (now DHL SameDay).
1991 - Airborne received awards from 3 major companies, including Volvo, and in 1992, the airline introduced Flight-Ready SM, a prepaid express letters and packs system.
1993 - Airborne introduced the Airborne Logistics System (ALS), which provided Airborne with warehousing and distribution services.
1994 - Airborne opened the Ocean Services Division, and ALS established the first new film distribution program for Hollywood since 1944. In addition, relations were established with Vietnam.
1995 - Airborne opened a second runway at Wilmington, and Boeing 767 jets were added to the fleet. The Airborne Alliance Group took care of many departments for the company.
1996 - Airborne's stock tripled, which would later lead into a two for one stock split in February 1998. Formed that year was Airborne Brokerage Services.
1998 - Airborne entered the Fortune 500 list for the first time. Airborne's first of 30 total 767's arrived at Wilmington, and the airline won an award by The Business Consumer Guide.
1999 - Airborne@Home, an alliance with the United States Postal Service, was formed.
2000 - Carl Donaway became the company's new president, which led to many managerial changes. Also that year, Airborne started a ground service for the first time in its history.
2001 - Airborne Express launched Ground Delivery Service and 10:30 AM Delivery Service. Airborne.com launched some services of its own, including the Small Business Center and Airborne eCourier.

August 14, 2003 - Airborne shareholders approved the acquisition of Airborne, Inc. by DHL of Brussels, Belgium. DHL is 100% owned by Deutsche Post World Net. The acquisition became effective the next day. DHL retained ownership of Airborne's ground operations and spun off its air operations as ABX Air, Inc.
November 10, 2008 - Global delivery company DHL announced that it is cutting 9,500 jobs as it discontinues air and ground operations within the United States. DHL said its DHL Express will continue to operate between the United States and other nations. But the company said it was dropping "domestic-only" air and ground services within the United States by Jan. 30 "to minimize future uncertainties." DHL's 9,500 job cuts are on top of 5,400 job reductions announced earlier this year. After these job losses, between 3,000 and 4,000 employees will remain at DHL's U.S. operations, the company said. The company also said it was shutting down all ground hubs and reducing its number of stations to 103 from 412.

References
Categories: Cargo airlinesTransportation companies of the United StatesDefunct airlines of the United StatesDefunct companies based in Seattle, WashingtonAirlines established in 1980DHL ExpressCompanies disestablished in 2003

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ABX Air
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
ABX Air
ABX Air.svg
IATA
GB ICAO
ABX Callsign
A BEX
Founded 1980
Fleet size 34
Destinations 183
Parent company Air Transport Services Group, Inc.
Headquarters Airborne Airpark
Clinton County, Ohio
Key people Joe Hete (CEO), John Graber (President), Quint Turner (Chief Financial Officer)
Revenue Increase US$ 730.1 million (2011)[1]
Operating income Decrease US$ 62.6 million (2011)[1]
Net income Decrease US$ 23.2 million (2011)[1]
Total assets Increase US$ 993.7 million (2011)[1]
Total equity Decrease US$ 270.1 million (2011)[1]
Employees 2,010 (Dec 2011)
Website www.abxair.com
ABX Air, Inc., formerly Airborne Express, is a cargo airline headquartered at Wilmington Air Park near the City of Wilmington, Ohio, USA.[2] ABX Air operates scheduled, ad hoc charter and ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance) freight services. It also provides flight support services and training. ABX Air is owned by Air Transport Services Group.

ABX Air's main customer is DHL, and the vast majority of the freight it carries is for that company. Most of ABX Air's aircraft are painted with DHL's yellow and red livery.

ABX also does cargo flights on behalf of Air Jamaica between Miami and the two Jamaican cities of Montego Bay (Donald Sangster International Airport) and Kingston (Norman Manley International Airport). One of their Boeing 767-200s routinely handles the flights, replacing the Douglas DC-8 types that flew previously. The aircraft fly with an Air Jamaica callsign of "Jamaica".

History
The airline was established in April 1980 when Airborne Freight Corporation acquired Midwest Air Charter; operations started later that year. Airborne Express, as the airline was initially named, was a wholly owned subsidiary of Airborne Freight Corporation of Seattle. Apart from its core activity of cargo transportation, Airborne Express also performed airframe maintenance services to a number of aircraft types. At March 1995 the company had 5,500 employees.[4] In January 1996, the company acquired 12 Boeing 767 aircraft for conversion to freighters.

ABX became a public company on 16 August 2003 as part of the merger of DHL and Airborne, in which DHL kept Airborne's ground operations and spun off its air operations as ABX Air Inc. ABX Air's common shares were traded on the NASDAQ National Market under the ticker symbol ABXA. In early 2007, ABX Air entered an ACMI agreement with All Nippon Airways to begin flying freight within Asia. The contract utilized two Boeing 767-200SF aircraft.[5] In March 2007, the airline had 7,600 employees.

On 2 November 2007, CEO Joe Hete and the ABX Air board of directors announced that the company had entered into an agreement to acquire Cargo Holdings International, the parent company of Air Transport International (ATI) and Capital Cargo International Airlines for a cost of $350 million. The transaction was finalized on 31 December 2007, and ABX Air was reorganized as a subsidiary of a holding company, later named Air Transport Services Group (ATSG).[8]

On November 10, 2008, ABX Air's largest customer, DHL, announced a plan to exit the United States domestic market.[9] Previous plans by DHL had been to keep its U.S. operations by contracting them out to United Parcel Service.[9] On 30 March 2010, ABX Air's parent company, ATSG, entered into new long-term agreements with DHL, under which ABX Air would continue providing airlift for the U.S. portion of DHL’s international network.

In 2014, ABX Air’s sister company Air Transport International (ATI) was cited by the USDA for several violations of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) during three separate shipments of monkeys destined for laboratories in the United States.